Chapter 280 Some are happy, some are worried

In recent days, people have been queuing up to be beheaded every day at Chang'an's largest vegetable market.

Those who were killed were all great figures.

The dignitaries included the princes and dukes of counties, the officials included the ministers of the Temple of Imperial Cultivation, the secretaries of the Secretariat..., the dignitaries of the second and first ranks, the high officials of the fourth and third ranks, as well as the marquises, earls, and officials below the fourth rank, there were countless of them.

These people were all involved in the East Palace case of that year and participated in the murder of the prince.

This is what the Dali Temple said.

But people know whether it is true or not.

Conspiring to murder the crown prince is a capital crime of treason punishable by the execution of three clans. The fewer people who know about it, the better. How could there be so many people involved? It is obvious that they are using this case of treason to crack down on dissidents and unite to attack dissidents.

From a certain perspective, many of King You's accusations against Li Xuanjing were correct, pertinent and to the point.

Judging from his performance in the past few days, he has been accused of excluding dissidents, abusing power, abusing his authority, taking bribes and bending the law, murdering loyal officials, taking human lives lightly, and killing innocent people. None of them is unjust to him.

It’s a pity that King You himself is not clean. The crimes he committed are much more serious than those of Li Xuanjing.

He personally handed his evidence to Li Xuanjing.

Those dignitaries and officials were also implicated because of him.

Once King You and King Han fall, these people will fall into Li Xuanjing's hands. Won't they become lambs to be slaughtered?

Even though so many powerful people were killed, the remaining powerful circles in Chang'an remained unusually silent.

Even though there were some princes and dukes of high status among them, no one dared to speak for them.

In just three days, three princes were killed. At this time, whoever dares to stand out may be accused of being an accomplice and beheaded tomorrow.

There is another important reason why no one spoke up.

That is, Your Majesty said nothing about Li Xuanjing's reckless behavior.

It is impossible that His Majesty was unaware of such a big thing, but when faced with Li Xuanjing's massacre of clan relatives and dignitaries, His Majesty did not stop it. In fact, he has made his attitude clear.

The three words "clear the court" sound righteous and like a just act, but in fact, they are essentially no different from rebellion, as they are both forcing His Majesty to compromise with his subjects.

His Majesty has devoted himself to cultivation over the years and rarely appears in public, causing many people to forget how he ascended the throne.

After this incident, I am afraid no one will dare to force Your Majesty to do anything in the name of clearing the court.

The Censorate, which has always dared to speak out directly, did not remain silent on this matter, but it also symbolically submitted a few memorials and did not block the Dali Temple or the palace gate.

On the one hand, uprightness is not a golden ticket to immunity from death, and Li Xuanjing dares to kill officials who possess uprightness.

Even though they are not afraid of death, they cannot die meaninglessly.

They are willing to sacrifice for the people and the world.

But in order to save the powerful and wealthy, they sacrificed themselves. Although the censors were upright, they were not stupid.

Secondly, the harm caused by the powerful is far greater than that of a powerful official.

There is only one Li Xuanjing. After his death, everything will return to dust and earth to earth.

The titles of the powerful and wealthy can be passed down from generation to generation.

The seven generations of descendants of a county prince will all be powerful and noble, and the title of a prince can be passed down to eight generations. However, if they are killed for treason, their titles will be taken back by the court and can no longer be passed down.

A sin committed at one moment may bring lasting benefits for a hundred years.

The three provinces, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate cannot do this.

Only Li Xuanjing can do it.

In the Secretariat, two prime ministers were playing chess. Du Yu, the secretary of the Secretariat, walked in, put a piece of paper on the table, and said, "This is the list of dignitaries and officials executed by the Dali Temple today..."

The right prime minister picked up the paper, looked at it, and then put it down, saying softly: "Shangshu Zuocheng, Zuosi Langzhong, Revenue Department Right Assistant Minister, Revenue Department Right Assistant Minister, Personnel Department Right Assistant Minister... He must have waited for this moment for a long time, right?"

Li Xuanjing did not kill all the powerful officials who participated in the purge of the court.

The Prince of Ruyang, the Prince of Dingping, the Prince of Xingyang, and the Prince of Dongping, three of them were beheaded for treason. The Prince of Dingping, after investigation, was found to have nothing to do with the case of the Eastern Palace and has been released by the Dali Temple.

The Duke of Le'an and the Duke of Jinyang were beheaded, but the Duke of Xinping and the Duke of Linru were safe and sound and had been released back to their mansions.

The two Zhongshu Sheren, the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, and some officials of the nine temples not only lost their official positions but also lost their heads. However, some officials were simply dismissed from office according to the will of Your Majesty.

It seems that the Dali Temple decides who to kill and who not to kill based on its mood.

But if you study the list carefully, you will find some patterns.

In that year, there was a major case of treason that involved many people. The Prince of Ruyang, the Prince of Xingyang, and the Prince of Dongping were all involved. The Duke of Le'an and the Duke of Jinyang were also among the leaders.

Twenty years later, they both died in another case of treason.

The Wang family was also responsible for pushing the conspiracy at that time. All the officials on the execution list were backed by the Wang family.

In just a few days, the Wang family, which had run the court for decades, was wiped out without a single survivor.

The Wang family was also completely kicked out of the power center of the Great Xia court.

The left prime minister did not answer his question, but said: "The death of so many officials has affected the operation of the court. Let the Ministry of Personnel promote some senior officials as soon as possible. For the vacancies of Zongzheng Shaoqing, Jingzhao Yin and above the fourth rank, nominate candidates as soon as possible for your majesty to review..."

The Right Prime Minister nodded and said, "With so many vacancies, I'm afraid we won't be able to fill them all. I'm afraid we'll have to hold another imperial examination next year to admit more Jinshi candidates, just in case..."

…

The Dali Temple has been very busy these days.

Officials from the Ministry of Personnel were also working all night long.

The officials who participated in the purge of the imperial court on that day happened to meet His Majesty, and all of them were stripped of their official positions. Ten years of hard study and many years of officialdom became a dream.

Even the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was implicated and was just beheaded at Caishikou.

There are so many vacancies in the court, and the Ministry of Personnel must fill these vacancies in the shortest possible time.

Although they are busy, many officials are very excited inside.

After so many years of hardship in the court, I finally saw a glimmer of hope.

For an official in the court, although ability is important, it is more important to have people behind you. For a long time, important positions in various departments have been occupied by children of aristocratic families with deep backgrounds, and it is difficult for others to get involved.

They all died, and the position was naturally vacated.

Take Fang Zhanggu for example. He worked diligently as a ninth-rank Zhanggu in the document library for twenty years. He thought he would never be promoted in his life, but suddenly he was promoted three levels in a row, directly from the ninth rank to the seventh rank.

Unless one has made great contributions, it is rare to be promoted three levels in a row.

But the imperial court was really helpless. Too many mid-level officials died this time, and many important positions were vacant, especially in the prefectures and counties near the capital. In some county governments, from the county magistrate to the county assistant secretary and then to the county lieutenant, all were demoted and urgently needed to be filled.

The positions they vacated were temporarily filled by some minor officials, awaiting the next arrangements from the court.

The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for promoting middle and low-level officials, and its own officials will definitely receive a certain degree of preferential treatment.

Many officials in the Ministry of Personnel got the opportunity to be promoted this time.

It’s a pity for Zhao Zhanggu. If he were still alive, he would at least be able to get a seventh-rank official position.

Of course, even if these low-level officials were promoted again, they would only be at the seventh or sixth rank.

But for the middle-level officials who originally held high positions, this time they can be said to have been promoted overnight.

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was fired, and news came from the three ministries that Doctor Song was about to take his place.

A position of the fourth rank can be said to truly enter the core of the imperial court.

Doctor Song's luck was already very good, but there were people who were luckier than him.

In this campaign to purge the imperial court, almost all the officials of the Zongzheng Temple went out, except for the Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Temple, whose son had died.

It is understandable that others who have lost their children in middle age and are still in grief take a long vacation and do not participate in such things.

Therefore, he was the only senior official in the Zongzheng Temple who escaped this incident.

Not only that, the Minister of Zongzhengsi was killed for treason, and another Shaoqing was also implicated. Only he was the most suitable person to take over the position of Minister of Zongzhengsi.

This was not his only happy event.

It is said that one of his concubines is pregnant, and the imperial physician has determined that there is a 90% chance that it is a son.

It is difficult to tell whether it is a blessing or a curse.

He lost a useless son, but he escaped death, became one of the Nine Ministers, and had a new baby in his family. It can hardly be said that this is a bad thing.

Perhaps, it was the death of his previous son that brought him all this good luck.

The three provinces have also announced to the whole city about this matter. There is another mystery behind the case. The Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Army just suffered an unexpected disaster. The court's special promotion this time may also be out of consolation considerations.

In short, Chang'an in recent days has shown a trend of polarization.

Those who held funerals held funerals, those who held weddings held weddings. All the court officials condemned the Dali Temple Minister for his reckless behavior and crackdown on dissidents, but at night they laughed secretly in their quilts while holding the promotion order...

Students from all major academies were also very excited.

They have confirmed a good news from the court. Because too many officials died this time, the court is short of manpower, so they will add an imperial examination next year, and the number of admitted people will be far greater than in the past...

This means more opportunities. Some students who normally would not have been able to pass the imperial examination now have the hope of becoming officials in the imperial court...

This made them wonder whether they should scold Li Xuanjing or thank him...

(End of this chapter)